Have you gotten your degree online? Have you taken on line courses for credit. Please advise.

Question

I am in the process of enrolling in an on line school. I work full time and I am single mom so it seems the best option if not the only option. What has been your experience? I plan on taking 16-20 credits for 2 semesters? Is this DO-ABLE. I can really buckle down.I don't socialize much or party. I don't want to burn myself out how much studying is required for these courses? It is a state college and I'm sure it wont be a walk in the park. Any help is appreciated.

Answer 1

May be this site can help you

http://www.sgpak.com

Answer 2

16-20 semester hours is a pretty heavy courseload online or on campus.  It's especially heavy for someone that works for a living and has a family to take care of.

You can expect that a 16 hour load will require 16 hours per week of active class time PLUS about 32 hours of reading, study, coursework, papers, etc...  That's well over 40 hours per week.  Imagine for a moment - 5 classes all want a 10-page paper this coming Monday before midnight and 2 of those are planning a test Monday too.  Each of your 5 classes also expect you to participate in two discussion threads...  can you say "exhausted".  Ã¢Â˜Âº

Online courses have the advantage of location (you don't have to travel to campus) and time (you can do your work anytime) but they still require the same material and often a bit more work since nobody will be lecturing - you'll have to really read the texts.  Plenty of papers seem to be the norm as opposed to multiple guess tests.

I find 12 hours per semester of online classes to be more than enough work to keep me busy.  Remember, it does no good to get in a hurry to finish if your GPA suffers or you burn out as a result.

Answer 3

20 credits is A LOT of work!  Never mind socializing, what about eating and sleeping?

When I went back to school I started with one class in a subject I know I'm good at. In grad school, I ended up going full time (12 credits) and working full time, but only once I felt I could do it. I went traditional, but it's the same work load. I didn't sleep with 12 credits and a job, by the way.

Do you have an advisor? Ask them what's normal at the college. Since it's a state school, it's accredited (Middle States if you're in Brooklyn, NY). That means your degree is accepted anywhere- it also means there are standards, and once you get behind catching up will be almost impossible. Wouldn't it be better if you had a high GPA and learned a lot than if you just got by? Maybe you can accelerate by taking summer classes instead of jumping in with more than full time?

Good for you for going back and congrats on getting admitted and starting!